Leasehold Reform

Dr Allison Gardner (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Lab) asked the Minister for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, what steps the Government plans to take to reform the leasehold system. In response, the Minister stated that the Government is committed to bringing the feudal leasehold system to an end. He outlined that the Government will implement the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, enact the remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the right to manage, take steps to make commonhold the default tenure for new flats, and tackle unaffordable and unregulated ground rent charges. The Minister added that draft legislation will be published in due course, as set out in the King's Speech. Dr Gardner followed up, explaining that many of her constituents in Stoke-on-Trent South, including those from Blythe Bridge, have been affected by the "archaic fleecehold system". She described how her constituents have been left at the mercy of poor management agents, with service charges more than doubling and developers and managing agents reneging on promises to upkeep and build necessary infrastructure. Dr Gardner asked if the Government has plans to hold those managing agents and developers to account, perhaps with legal requirements of provision or a licensing scheme. The Minister acknowledged the distinct set of problems faced by residential freeholders, as described by Dr Gardner, and stated that the Government is committed to bringing the injustice of fleecehold private housing estates and unfair maintenance costs to an end. He said the Government intends to consult publicly on the best way to achieve this and, in the interim, will move to implement the new protections against unfair charges that were contained in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. Sir Julian Lewis (New Forest East) (Con) then intervened, thanking the Minister for expressing the wish to see the "awful system" disposed of. Sir Julian shared his own experience of winning a first-tier tribunal hearing against a freeholder, but still awaiting the refunding of the sums of money that were wrongly taken. He noted that the freeholder simply ignores everything and carries on as if nothing had happened. The Minister acknowledged this as one of the many failings of the feudal leasehold system, reiterating the Government's intention to end it by the end of this Parliament.